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Riding Day Loops From Smiths Falls Ontario

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The Province of Ontario is huge. In fact, its 415,000-square mile land mass makes Ontario larger than either Alaska or Texas.

The province also has over 19,000 miles of maintained snowmobile trails, often cited as “the world’s largest recreational trail system”. So, when it comes to planning a short Ontario snowmobile adventure, your first decision is where to ride.

Choose Eastern Ontario

One good choice is Eastern Ontario, home to about 20% of the provincial trail system operated by the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC). This heartland of rural Ontario is located in the southeast corner of the province, bounded on the south by the St. Lawrence River, and to the north by the Ottawa River and Algonquin Park. On the south side, it also shares the international border with the State of New York, and its eastern boundary is with Quebec.

From a snowmobiling perspective, Eastern Ontario includes the Upper Canada Snowmobile Region (OFSC District 1) and the Snow Country Snowmobile Region (OFSC District 6). These two adjacent regions are linked by Trans Ontario Provincial (TOP) Trails. Each also provides a myriad of local trails ripe for exploration and generally decent snow conditions in a normal winter.

Choose Smiths Falls

But even Eastern Ontario is too much territory to ride for a short visit. So, with only three days available, we looked at what doable loops are available from a central location. This narrowed our staging choice to the Town of Smiths Falls in Lanark County. With a population of 8,780, Smiths Falls is big enough to offer a full range of amenities and services for snowmobilers, while retaining its hospitable, small town friendliness.

Most important, TOP Trail E runs right through town. It provides easy access to interesting day loops in every direction. And best of all for our three-day visit, this trunk trail also offers direct trail access to a well-appointed staging hotel, the Best Western Smiths Falls (See Where We Stayed).

Amenities & Services

The Best Western Smiths Falls provides ample truck & trailer parking, plus sled parking in front of its ground floor rooms. Reservations include a complimentary hot breakfast, and there’s a gas station right across the street. Meanwhile for a town its size, Smiths Falls boasts a plethora of tasty eateries.

We sampled several great ones for our nightly diners (See Where We Ate). What’s more, our treat-loving group were thrilled to discover the neighbouring Dairy Queen, which quickly became our nightly go to for frozen goodies!

Where We Rode

LOOP ONE: From the Best Western, we snowmobiled three loops. Our 178-mile Day One started going south towards The City of Brockville and the St. Lawrence River. Then, our route swung east and north to within a stone’s throw of the Ottawa Airport before hightailing it west back into Smiths Falls. We lunched at the popular Red Dot Café in Osgoode, where we also fuelled up.

LOOP TWO: Day Two, we travelled 179 miles north on TOP Trail A, swung east on local trails through Constance Bay, and stopped at Pakenham for fuel after lunching at Bridges Grill & Pub. From there, it’s an easy ride south through Carleton Place back to the Best Western Smiths Falls.

LOOP THREE: We couldn’t leave Lanark County without a meal at the famous Wheeler’s Pancake House. So, our 137-mile Day Three found us westbound through The Village of Lanark towards Wheeler’s location on Local Trail 1 south of MacDonald’s Corners. After a maple syrup infused lunch and sugar camp museum tour, we steered our sleds east again to Smiths Falls. This brought us back early enough for some of our group to trailer home that night.

More Good Reasons

I highly recommend Smiths Falls as a staging destination for day loops. Thanks to multiple trail choices, each of our rides could easily have been either shorter or longer to suit our daily preference. While our expectation was to ride plenty of farm country in Eastern Ontario, we were pleasantly surprised at the diversity, including woodlands, bush lots and variable terrain.

Meanwhile, with good signage everywhere, navigation was never an issue. Nor was there any feeling of being too far from help if needed, thanks to the reassuring presence of countless farms, businesses, roads, rural villages and friendly people.

Eastern Ontario is most certainly an appealing place to snowmobile. Plus, its proximity to the U.S. border, combined with good highway access, make it a serious contender for your next long weekend getaway.

CONTACTS:

Smiths Falls Tourism
Lanark County Tourism
Ontario’s Highlands Tourism
– Ontario Tourism

WHERE WE STAYED:

Best Western Smiths Falls

WHERE WE ATE:

Axe & Arrow Gastropub
Chuckles Jack
– Ger-Bo’s Steakhouse
Matty O’Shea’s

Exploring Greater Sudbury Region

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With a population of about 165,000, The City of Greater Sudbury is the largest urban centre in Ontario completely surrounded by snowmobile trails.

The so called “Nickel City” is located less than a four-hour trailer drive north of the Greater Toronto Area on Highway 169. As such, it’s a main gateway for snowmobilers riding farther into Northeastern Ontario.

But Greater Sudbury is also a popular snowmobiling destination in its own right. From here, 2,000 kilometres of well-maintained trails spoke out to places like Espanola, Killarney and Wanapitei Lake.

So there’s plenty of great day riding to be had staging out of Sudbury. This includes four premier snow tours, designated loops that make area exploring and navigation even easier.

Four Day-Ride Snow Tours

On a previous visit to the home of the Big Nickel and Science North, I enjoyed snowmobiling the two snow tours positioned north of Sudbury.

The one to the northeast is the 223-kilometre Chiniguchi Wolf Loop around Wanapitei Lake. Meanwhile, the 253-kilometre Cartier Moose Loop circles to the northwest. Both of these are primarily land-based routes with only a few staked ice crossings.

But for this ride, my goal was to ride the region’s other two snow tours. The Rainbow Elk Loop runs south of Sudbury to Killarney for a round trip of about 252-kilometres.

Beside it, the 185-kilometre Deer Loop circles southeast of the city towards La Cloche Mountains to take in the Espanola area. Each of these snow tours are a mix of land and ice routes, with some major stretches of staked lake trails.

Calculate Daily Distances

For planning purposes with each of these four snow tours, please note that your actual daily ride distance will depend on where you stage from. In our case, the Moonlight Inn & Suites. So calculate the mileage from your starting location to the access point for the snow tour you are riding that day. And then double it to take into account the same return distance. These additional kilometres will make your day trip slightly longer than the distance shown for the snow tour itself.

Rainbow Elk Loop Options

With the Rainbow Elk Loop, snowmobilers have two options if you do it clockwise. One is to do the full ride to Killarney for lunch and fuel. This town provides the only fuel, food and lodging services actually on the tour.

The other option is not going into Killarney to shorten the loop by about 68 kilometres. Instead, cut off on to TOP C113. It travels numerous ice crossings, so the going is quicker than by trail. But there are two other factors to consider with this shorter option.

One is that there’s no lunch stop on route, so bring a snack. The other is that there’s no fuel on route. So unless you’re carrying extra gas, this alternative round trip total may be too far for most sleds to go without filling up. However, Panache Lake Marina has gas and a variety store. It’s only a quick 12-kilometre detour west from the Rainbow Elk Loop intersection of TOP C113 and TOP C108D following the stake line on the lake of that name.

Deer Loop West of Town

Our next day’s ride, the 185-kilometre Deer Loop, is positioned west of the Rainbow Elk Loop. This mileage count starts at the eastern terminus of the loop on TOP Trail D109 near the Town of Lively. From the Moonlight Inn & Suites, it’s about 46 additional kilometres via TOP D111 & C108D to access this loop. So its total distance becomes about 277 klicks door to door, returning the same way. On route, there’s fuel and lunch outbound at Nairn and Espanola. And on the way back, gas at Panache Lake Marine.

For the final day of our Sudbury visit, we wanted a short loop so we could load up in daylight to trailer home. Having completed the two southern loops, we headed north of town for a circle ride to Kukagami Lake (fuel only) and then west to Wanapitei Lake for lunch at Rocky’s (fuel). Our total was 180 kilometres, which got us back to the Moonlight by mid-afternoon to head home.

Snow Tour Signage

Whatever your choice of trails and loops in the Greater Sudbury area, all routes and intersections typically provide some of Ontario’s best signage for easy navigation. Both the northern snow tours, Chiniguchi Wolf Loop and Cartier Moose Loop also have their own snow tour signs to assist snowmobilers to stay on track.

Unfortunately, the snow tour signs for the Rainbow Elk and Deer Loops are a confusing mish-mash. So on the snow, riders are left trying to figure out which loop is which and where each goes. My advice to visiting riders is to follow the trail numbers, not loop signs for both the Rainbow Elk and Deer snow tours.

Regardless, trail riding in the Greater Sudbury typically ranges from good to exceptional. Yes, as with any major population centre, in town trails can take a beating that constantly challenges clubs to keep up with grooming. But snowmobilers don’t have to go far out of town to hit generally impeccable trails spoking out in every direction.

So if you’re looking for a long weekend staging destination with plenty of trail options plus big city amenities, the Greater Sudbury Region has it all!

Where We Stayed:

Moonlight Inn & Suites, Sudbury

Contacts:

Northeastern Ontario Tourism
Greater Sudbury Tourism
Sudbury Trail Plan

Memorable Miles in Midwestern Ontario

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I can’t remember the last time I snowmobiled back to back days so different from each other. Bright sun one day, raging blizzard the next, followed by a variable mix of sun & cloud. But their one commonality was great riding – welcome to snowmobiling in Midwestern Ontario.

Discover Midwestern Ontario

Midwestern Ontario is the northern half of what’s typically known as “Southwestern Ontario”. American snowmobilers trailering into Canada at Detroit (bridge or tunnel) or Port Huron need look no farther for a memorable experience than Midwestern Ontario.

Same goes for any Ontario riders living along the 401 Highway corridor or throughout the Golden Horseshoe who want to “ride more, drive less.” In fact, with less than a couple of hours drive, these visitors can be on the snow and on the trails in this region that includes what’s commonly referred to as “the Grey-Bruce”.

But Midwestern Ontario is much more than that. Sandwiched between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, it also includes a large chunk of the famous Niagara Escarpment, which forms the scenic spine of the Bruce Peninsula all the way north to Tobermory. Meanwhile, Its largest centre is The City of Owen Sound (pop. 21,341).

Trail & Snow Conditions

As we experienced first-hand, Midwestern Ontario’s fortuitous positioning within the Great Lakes basin can result in sudden and significant lake effect snow at any time. These often-unpredictable snowsqualls frequently dump massive amounts in just a few hours.

That’s why the almost 1,900 miles of groomed snowmobile trails throughout Midwestern Ontario can be groomed table top one day, but buried deep under fresh powder the next. Or, if prevailing westerly winds off Lake Huron are too strong, they can sweep snow cover off some open field trails in the blink of an eye, while piling up massive drifts elsewhere.

Kudos to OFSC District 9

So, with everything that Old Man Winter throws at them, the challenge for the snowmobile clubs of District 9 of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) is to keep their trails in tip-top riding shape.

They achieve this goal because their District is a model of grooming effectiveness and efficiency thanks to a recent reorganization that made grooming operations a centrally directed and cooperative effort. And judging from our experience there last winter, their new system is a resounding success for snowmobilers.

Getting Around

What’s more, as I’ve learned from many years of riding, the litmus test for trail navigation is whether or not visiting riders can find their way during a serious storm.

I’m pleased to report that OFSC District 9 passed with flying colours on day two when our visibility was often severely reduced. But thanks to plentiful and well-placed field stakes, frequent trail signs, numerous map boards, and their unique intersection numbering system, we found our way, even when the actual trail corridor was obliterated.

Staging Hotel

Our Supertrax crew staged out of the Best Western Inn On The Bay in Owen Sound. Located on the east side of town beside the water, this snowmobile-friendly hotel provides direct trail access from Trans Ontario Provincial (TOP Trail B at Intersection 144).

The Best Western offers ample truck and trailer parking, a scrumptious on-site restaurant open for both early breakfast and late dinners, reliable Wi-Fi, in-room fridge, and a hot tun & whirlpool. Fuel is available just south off TOP Trail B (turn right at Intersection 143).

Our Day Loops

Our125-mile first day loop steered east to include the Walter’s Falls Tour followed by a stop at Steven’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Markdale for lunch with fuel nearby. Our loop continued southwest through Durham before turned back north for home.

During our blizzard day, we had expected to snowmobile southwest from Owen Sound to ride the 164-mile Saugeen River Tour. But with so much lake effect snow in the way, we considered ourselves lucky to get in 108 miles of tough slugging in seven hours with a lunch stop at Walker Catering Co. Cafe & Eatery in Tara. One bonus was being able to visit scenic Sauble Falls on TOP Trail B018 just north of Sauble Beach (fuel).

Meanwhile, our 125-mile day three loop took in the Skinner’s Bluff outlook over Colpoy’s Bay (local trail running east from Wiarton), a neat lunch stop at the Hungry Hanger at the Wiarton Keppel International Airport, and a great view of Hope Bay on Top Trail B107. We had intended to ride a loop through Lion’s Head, but several of the guys had to trailer home that evening, so we detoured back to the Best Western early.

As you can see, Midwestern Ontario provides a remarkable range of sledding opportunities. Remarkably, there are no ice crossings anywhere. With trails starting less than an hour north of the Cities of London and Kitchener-Waterloo, the region is easily accessible from the Highway 401 corridor, and that’s why they say: “great snow is closer than you think!”

Contacts:

Bruce GreySimcoe Tourism
Ontario Tourism
Intrepid Snowmobiler

Where We Stayed:

Best Western Inn On The Bay, Owen Sound

BEST TRACK FOR TRAIL RIDING

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Choosing the right track when you’re buying a new sled is pretty big deal because once you’ve made the decision, you’re pretty much stuck with the one on your sled.

Here’s our best advice: At point of purchase you need to do an honest evaluation of how and where you’re planning to spend your sled’s life riding. Obviously, we’re talking to trail riders here, however, even foothill and mountain riders need to take some careful considerations before deciding on lug depth.

First, trail riders: If you plan on strictly riding on trails, the range you should be considering is between 1.25 inch lug depth and a 1.6. If your sled is generating anything more than 125 horsepower, you would seriously benefit from upgrading to a 1.35, 1.5 or a 1.6-lugger.

The two deeper tracks (1.5 and 1.6) almost – and we stress, almost – eliminate the need for traction products – provided most of your riding is done on semi-hardpack or packed powder trails. Ice is another matter completely!

The two deeper tracks also open the door for being able to go off-trail once in a while. You won’t be able to climb like a mountain sled but the extra depth, even on a 129-inch sled, will allow you to do some pretty serious flatland exploring without getting stuck.

We formerly mentioned a horsepower ceiling of 125 ponies. In our opinion, most of the 800, 850 and turbo sleds offered today simply do not have enough track under them to allow decent traction, acceleration and even in some cases, safety, unless you add a bunch of studs.

Most of these powerful sleds are still coming from the factory with 1.25-inch tracks and it simply doesn’t make sense to us. The good news is, more OEMs are offering early-order or optional deeper track choices.

There is one caveat. There’s slightly more friction with a deeper track and that may rob a bit of top end. If you’re a lake racer only interested in max speed, you’ll be better off with a 1.25-inch lug depth but may want to up the ante and go for a track that depth with factory studs.

In our view (for what it’s worth) we are sold on the 1.5 or 1.6-inch depth tracks. The difference in bite is immediately noticeable and even braking is way improved.

ARCTIC CAT UNDERSTOOD

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It’s no secret in the powersport media biz Arctic Cat has been taking it on the chin lately.

Multiple media entities in the powersports press – us included – have called out AC for stuff we don’t understand. Thankfully communication is flowing again from Arctic Cat and the news is good.

PRODUCT IS KING

Let’s have another look at what Arctic Cat is doing in terms of product. First, the company unveiled one of the best new 50/50 X-over rides at last spring’s Snow Shoot event in West Yellowstone. The new Riot and Riot X got our crew of less-than-easy-to-convince Test Riders genuinely fired up.

The two versions of the Riot use a variety of Arctic Cat M-components – melding them together to form a potent, next-generation trail slaying / deep snow / boondocking ride. The two Riot models compliment the new Alpha single rail suspended M sleds (which appear to be replacing all previous non-Alpha models) with dual rail, deep snow skids.

The Riot is more trail targeted and the X more off trail targeted. The Riot twins are worthy competitors in the hotly contested crossover/boondocking category.

PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY

In the engine department, Arctic Cat has received repeated kudos from our team for the C-TEC 2 DSI (Dual Stage Injection) 600 and 800cc mills. These engines are among the cleanest running, most fuel efficient and powerful motors in the biz. We have continually knighted the 600 DSI as our fave 600 class mill as a result of its eager response and formidable top-end wail down Kevlar Lake. 

The 2020 version of the 800 receives new cylinders for 2020, and new pistons with the slot removed. New cylinder castings place the fuel injectors (one per cylinder) inside the transfer ports, very similar to a semi-direct setup. Even though the market is obsessed with 850’s the updated 800 C-TEC2 is a strong player in the top performance segment. A hallmark of both the DSI 600 and last year’s 800 continues to be drop-dead reliability.

GAME CHANGER

Big news comes in the form of the most significant improvement in Pro Cross handling since the platform’s intro. New spindles with new orientation in relation to the bulkhead provide the most turn-in and forward bite we’ve experienced on any Pro Cross model.

Gone is the chassis’ previous predisposition to shove its nose through the center of the turn and under steer past the apex. Turn-in is now strong, immediate and most importantly, reliably predictable through the entire corner. Part of the re-jiggering of the chassis includes moving the front arm’s mounting point lower in the tunnel.

PASSION AND PEOPLE

There’s a reason why Arctic Cat has stuff the faithful will appreciate for 2020. People. Many of the same people who have innovated, developed and raced Arctic Cat snowmobiles for years are still doing just that.

Of note is Engineering lead Brian Dick. Aside from being one of the nicest, most approachable guys in the industry, Brian leads a team which has their fingerprints all over Arctic Cat’s 2020 product.

Clearly there’s a renewed spirit of team work in TRF and it goes from the top of the Engineering department to a Crew of committed, hardcore snowmobile enthusiast’s who just happen to be engineers.

MORE TO COME?

Moving forward – not backward – there’s strong rumors Arctic Cat has some impressive new stuff close to introduction – including what’s rumored to be game changing technology in a new target market. Sounds good and you can be sure we’ll be there to learn all about it when it’s ready to release.

Yamaha’s 2-Stroke Transporter 600 Overview & Impressions

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Luke got a chance to get up close and personal with Yamaha’s 2020 Transporter 600 in the Yamaha booth at Hay Days this year to get a fresh look at its only 2-stroke offering the entire Yamaha snowmobiles lineup.

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OBVIOUS MARKET TRENDS

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We were talking about industry trends the other day and this thought came up: If the years from 2000 to 2010 were all about EPA compliance, then this decade – 2011 to 2020 – is all about versatility!

If you go back 15 or 20 years, you’ll recall the snowmobile biz was in a state of panic about the new EPA regulations that many suspected could be the end of the 2-stroke engine and the possibility we could all be riding electric sleds in a few years.

As we now know, none of this happened and groundbreaking engine technology enabled 2-strokes to be as pollution-free as 4-strokes. The upside was that both 2-stroke and 4-stroke performance got better than before and the new, cleaner, more efficient powerplants have established the business for at least another couple of decades!

The last decade (2011-2020) has ushered in the age of versatility. Complete sled categories have been created, then revised so a buyer is able to do multiple things with one purchase.

For instance, if you look at crossover sleds, they’ve become extremely capable as semi-mountain climbers – certainly great in flatland powder – but even closer than ever to pure mountain rides. Naturally, new suspension developments have kept them capable as trail sleds, too.

Sleds like the Titan and Expedition Extreme show off the versatility of hugely wide and long tracked sleds initially designed for utility use, still being great trail sleds.

Ten years ago, every OEM offered 2-uppers as a distinct category with a whole list of engine sizes and track lengths to satisfy this specialized multi-passenger market.

Today the 2-up Touring sled is quickly becoming a sled you can mechanically convert from a 2-passenger sled into a sport sled with, guess what (?) – a long track for going off-trail if you want!

It looks like today’s snowmobile consumers are looking for one-stop shopping and want sleds that can pretty much do it all. We’re waiting to see what the hallmark trend will be for the next ten years.

Arctiva introduces the Layering System

Janesville, Wisconsin – October 4, 2019 – The all new Arctiva layering system is one of the most important things a rider can wear to stay not only warm but dry. Offering a full line up of layering products, Arctiva has everything from your base layer all the way up to your heavier insulators. The Evaporator shirt and pant are designed to be your wicking base layer. It is constructed of a light-weight, extremely breathable, polyester material which helps keep the moisture away. The Regulator is the next step in the layering system. This mid-weight jersey insulation is made from a unique blend of polyester and spandex which results in an extremely soft touch. The warmest layering line is the Insulator shirt and pant. This again is considered a mid-weight but is constructed from a blend of micro polyester and spandex. Arctiva also offers two uniquely styled layering jackets, the Mech mid-layer and the Softshell jacket. Both of these can be worn with any of the mentioned layering kits to provide the ultimate protection against cold weather. Arctiva layering is offered in men’s and women’s. Prices for each piece varies, visit www.arctiva.com for more information.

Arctiva is dedicated to sport of snowmobiling. Countless hours are spent researching and designing performance outerwear and layering garments specifically for the power sports enthusiast. For more information visit us at www.arctiva.com. You can also follow us on Instagram @arctivagear and the @OfficalArctiva Facebook page.

2020 Polaris TITAN Adventure Overview & Impressions

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Luke gets his chance to get up close and personal with the 2020 Polaris TITAN Adventure to show you all the details.

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DIGITAL CYLINDER HEAD BREAKTHROUGH

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From the first day there were 4-strokes in the snowmobile business, naysayers have used the same argument: “They’re too heavy”!

It’s true, 4-strokes have had a distinct weight disadvantage compared to 2-strokes but there have been other endearing factors for snowmobilers, not the least of which is the incredible power output you can gain by turbocharging them. Until now everyone has pretty much believed it was a problem that would never be solved.

There’s been a recent technology breakthrough, however, that may go a long way to changing the rules when it comes to the 4-stroke weight argument.

Engineers in Britain and Europe have developed a new 4-stroke cylinder head that is lighter and more compact than what current overhead valve and overhead cam engines use. Look it up online under “Freevalve” or “CamCon”.

The technology is referred to as Intelligent Valve Actuation and it eliminates the need for a timing belt or chain and associated pulleys or gears.

The deck height of an IVA engine is considerably lower because there’s no longer need for valve lifters or valve springs and no longitudinal camshaft sits atop the cylinder head.

Also, because the above-mentioned drive gear for a cam is gone, the engine is shorter.

Instead of the above valve and drive paraphernalia, there’s an electronic module sitting where a conventional cylinder head would be. Inside, all the valve timing is digitally controlled (there are still valves controlled by individual tiny cams for each cylinder in the module) and each cylinder can control valve “moments” separately.

The result is better fuel efficiency, up to 30-percent lower emissions and – wait for it – more power and torque.

The best news for snowmobilers is a significant weight reduction – 30 to 40 lbs. (15-20 kg) in a conventional 2000cc 4-cylinder engine. We’re thinking a 900 or 1000cc 4-stroke triple could come in about 20-lbs lighter.

This would definitely put a 4-stroke much closer to a same-displacement 2-stroke weight-wise and maybe change a lot of thinking in the business.

The inventors are still working with details and testing but the prospects are extremely strong this tech will appear on automobiles in the near future. Oh, and BTW, IVA works really well with turbocharging.